Researchers in Australia have sounded the alarm after discovering that a threatened frog species has been interbreeding with a more abundant variety, hindering conservation efforts.
The discovery, detailed in a study published in Ecology and Evolution, highlighted the threat hybridization poses to both threatened species and biodiversity.
What's happening?
Once widespread in Australia, booroolong frogs fell victim to a deadly fungus that was long thought to have wiped the species out entirely, according to FrogID.
Amazingly, after 40 years without a sighting, researchers for the Australian Museum identified booroolong frogs in New South Wales in 2017.
Since that time, experts have put in place conservation efforts aimed at preventing booroolong frogs from disappearing once again.
The study's findings put these efforts in jeopardy.
Using genetic testing, researchers discovered that booroolong frogs have been interbreeding with the much more abundant (and not threatened) eastern stony creek frog, creating hybrid offspring.
"Discovering booroolong frog and eastern stony creek frog hybrids was a surprise to us," Gracie Liu and Jodi Rowley, the study's authors, wrote in an article for the Australian Museum website.
"We didn't even know that hybridization occurred between the species, so documenting it certainly wasn't on our mind."
Why is hybridization important?
While it has not gotten nearly the amount of public attention as other threats like habitat loss and invasive species, hybridization also poses a major threat to endangered species and biodiversity.
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Absolutely 💯 While hybridization is a natural part of the evolutionary process and can sometimes introduce "advantageous new traits," the study's authors warned that hybridization poses risks as well.
"Hybridization can become a serious problem if the hybrids are very successful — for example, if they consistently outcompete the parent species for food, space, or other resources," Liu and Rowley explained. "For species that are already rare, threatened or declining, hybridization could push these species further toward extinction."
Biodiversity matters because it is the foundation of our planet's delicate ecosystems, which do everything from providing us with the food we eat to removing carbon from the air to improving our mental health.
Because we depend on this delicate balance for our survival, it is essential that we do everything we can to maintain it. Removing just one seemingly inconsequential piece from the equation can disrupt an entire system, oftentimes with unforeseen, disastrous results.
What's being done about hybridization?
As the Australian frog researchers learned, identifying hybrids is not as easy as it might seem.
"While some hybrids of booroolong frogs and eastern stony creek frogs were obviously from their physical appearance, others looked almost identical to one of the parent species," wrote Liu and Rowley. "In other words, they were cryptic; their physical appearance was not always a reflection of their true identity."
In fact, researchers were able to accurately identify hybrids from appearance alone just 42% of the time.
Only through genetic testing were the researchers able to fully quantify the massive scale of the hybridization problem. At some sites, more than 30% of the tested frogs were hybrids, the study found.
The findings signaled the importance of incorporating genetic testing into conservation efforts. Otherwise, species like the booroolong frog could literally disappear before our eyes without our even realizing it.
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